FOURTEENTH CELEBRATION 



OF THE BIRTHDAY OF 



SENATOR CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW 



BY THE 



Montauk Club of Brooklyn 

April 22, 1905 



\^i 






■' ' (A' 



By Transfer 

MAR 30 1917 



(From the Brooklyn Eagle of April 23, 1905.) 

DEPEW'S 71ST BIRTHDAY; 

MONTAUK CLUB BANQUET. 



Junior Senator and Wife; Senior Senator and 
Wife; Mr. Woodruff and Fiancee There. 



MOST OF MEMBERS' WIVES, TOO. 



event was an ovation to the better halves of crea- 
tion — WHAT WAS SAID IN SPEECHES. 

Looking even younger than he did a year ago, when he 
said he was 70, Chauncey i\L Depew sat down to a ban- 
quet last night at the Montauk Club. It was the fifteenth 
consecutive anniversary of his birthday that he had en- 
joyed in the saine way — the guest of the club, but he gave 
definite evidence that he enjoyed this banquet more than 
any of the preceding ones, though he divided the honor 
with Mrs. Depew and United States Senator Thomas C. 
Piatt and Mrs. Piatt. 

It was an interesting affair for many reasons, the prin- 
cipal one, perhaps, being that women were present for 
tlie first time in the many years that Senator Depew has 
been the guest of honor, and the wives, sweethearts and 
daughters of the members very generally improved the 
opportunity to be present. At the guest table sat former 
Lieutenant-Governor Timothy L. Woodruff, the toast- 
master, and President of the club, and Controller Edward 
yi. Grout and Mrs. Grout. At Mr. Woodruff's right and 
left sat Mr. and Mrs. Depew, and Senator Piatt sat next 
to Mrs. Grout, while Airs. Piatt was vis-a-vis with Mr. 
Grout. 

AN UNSUAL DISPLAY OF FLOWERS. 

Another interesting feature of the banquet was the 
floral display, the clubhouse walls and ceiling being en- 
tirely covered and festooned with cut flowers, potted 
plants and vines. The clubrooms had disappeared for 



the night and the banquet was what might be termed a 
two-story one, the tables being laid in the big assembly 
room and the big banquet hall on the third floor. 

The guest table, however, was in the assembly room 
and the tables were all filled with their designated occu- 
pants when the Hungarian orchestra struck up "Hail to 
the Chief" and Senator Depew escorted Mrs, Piatt to her 
place. There was great applause. Senator Piatt fol- 
lowed with Mrs. Depew and everybody noticed that the 
senior senator from New York State was much more 
feeble than he was the last time he was in Brooklyn. 

Miss Isabel Morrison, the fiancee of ]\Ir. Woodruff, sat 
with a merry party at a nearby table, presided over by 
William Berri. Miss Morrison made a charming picture 
in her simple gown of white and was the cynosure of 
many feminine eyes, for she is to be married tomorrow — 
Easter Monday — to the man who presided at the ban- 
quet. 

When the cofifee w'as finished the banqueters on the 
third floor came down to the assembly room and the 
"feast of reason" followed the viands, 

THE POE^I BY MR. AVIS. 

It was then that it became evident why the women 
folk were invited, the secret being revealed in the fol- 
lowing poem by William A. Avis, the IMontauk Club 
poet: 

The committee for this dinner had to think up something 

new, 
They were seriously puzzled : didn't know just what to 

do; 
The old stag was a chestnut, so, of course, it wouldn't 

^ do— 
Who ever heard of chestnuts in connection with Depew? 
That's whv we brought the girls. 



In the wigwam of the Montauks all the men are 

changed to boys, 
So all the ladies present must be girls to share the joys. 
Once more we greet the Senator — a boy at seventy-one, 
Just look at him and think of all the things and men he's 
done. 
That's why we brought the girls. 

\\'ould Dr. Osier chloroform at sixty? So they say! 
Then let's be thankful that the doctor cannot have his 

way. 
No chloroform for me or mine ; excuse me, I guess not. 
There's lots of fun for boys and girls way past the sixty 
spot. 
That's why we brought the girls. 

We always like to say nice things in after dinner 

speeches, 
Can we say our honored guest has always practiced 

what he preaches? 
Standing boldly for protection all his days in public life, 
Has he lived up to protection? Didn't he import his 

wife ? 
That's why we brought the girls. 

Thrice happy we with Mrs. D. ; the Senator must know 
That when he brings his better half he's less than half 

the show. 
For as much as we like Chauncey, he's not in it with his 

wife. 
And we're glad she came to Brooklyn for a glimpse of 

Indian life. 
That's why we brought the girls. 

\\'e hope we may be able to create a good impression. 

There isn't any doubt of Tim, for he's beyond expres- 
sion. 

Tonight the Montauk firmament takes in the lady star; 

We hail it with the old cry of the Montauks — Wah 
Whoo Wah! 
That's why we brought the girls. 



Now, if when you get home tonight you hang your 
evening suit 

On the faucet of the bath tub, you can blame imperial 
brut, 

And your wife will understand it without an explana- 
tion. 

For wasn't she right here herself? There'll be no ex- 
clamation. 
That's why we brought the girls. 

Then in the dark brown morning, when the air feels 
cold and chilly. 

And the lady of the house looks like a drooping Easter 
lily. 

There will be a bond of sympathy, and you will be the 
winner. 

At breakfast you will both agree this was a dandy din- 
ner. 
That's why we brought the girls. 

THE SPEECH OF MR. WOODRUFF. 

After the applause over Air. Avis' poem had ceased, 
Mr. Woodruff said : 

"Fellow members of the Montauk Club — We are hon- 
ored tonight as never before in the long series of these 
annual dinners, commemorative of the birth of our dis- 
tinguished guest. Senator Depew, by having in attend- 
ance those without whom an occasion of this character 
lacks the grace and charm which can only be imparted 
by the presence of the ladies, 

"Tonight we welcome most cordially our lady friends 
and thank them for consenting to grace this banquet by 
their presence. We are particularly honored by the 
gracious presence of Mrs. Depew, to whose continued 
health, prosperity and happiness we would drink a toast 
if the tables and glasses had not been removed, but, all 



5 

the same, we pledge the undying friendship of the IMon- 
tauk Ckib. 

"Never in the history of tliis club, by fellow members 
and ladies fair, our guests, or, for that matter, of any 
other social organization of similar character, has any- 
thing more extraordinary taken place than the fifteen 
consecutive birthday celebrations in which the members 
of this club have been privileged to participate and by 
which prestige immeasurable has been conferred upon 
the ^Montauk Club by our versatile, venerated and I 
must also say venerable guest — Chauncey M. Depew. I 
refer to him as venerable, not simply because 'seventy 
winters have besieged his brow,' but because Louis the 
Seventh of France, King George the Fourth of England 
and the immortal Shakespeare were all born on the 23d 
of April also, and of that incomparable quartet the only 
survivor is Depew. Shakespeare was not only born on 
the 23d of April, but 'shuffled this mortal coil' on the 
same day of the same month at the age of 52, younger 
than our illustrious guest will be tomorrow by nineteen 
years. 

]\IOXTAUK CLUB OWNS THE BIRTHDAY. 

'T refer to him as venerated particularly by us, be- 
cause he has given us the right to say that his birthday 
belongs, not to his family, nor to the people of the Em- 
pire State, nor to the people of the Union, but to the 
jNIontauk Club : 

j\Iay heaven augment your blisses. 
On every new birthday ye see. 

"What is the secret of the great success Senator Depew 
has achieved in political, professional and financial fields? 
Work without worry! What is the keynote of his life? 
Optimism! That is why he is no older in spirit or 
appearance to-night than when he was our guest for the 
first time, fifteen years ago. When Alexander the Great 



of Macedonia, before his great Asiatic campaign, divided 
his revenues among his friends, he was asked, 'Sire, what 
do you keep for yourself?' His answer was 'Optimism.' 
This was what enabled the youngest general of the ages 
to vanquish all the nations of the earth and then sigh for 
more worlds to conquer. At twice the age of this 
optimist, who conquered the world and died at 33, Sena- 
tor Depew at 66 didn't take chloroform and under its de- 
structive influence go to the happy hunting grounds of 
the ]\Iontauk tribe beyond the stars, but he took a wife 
(so did Senator Piatt), under whose invigorating in- 
fluences he has stayed with us upon the earth and will 
remain for years and years to come, unoslerized, cele- 
brating in this wigwam of ours the birthdays which are 
the milestones of life's journey, but in his case seem to 
mark no diminution of that superb physical and mental 
being which God gave him. The optimism of Alexander 
the Great and the optimism of Depew the Great have 
proved the most potent powers in the achievement of 
conquests in both the ancient and the modern world, 
and Senator Depew has, on more than one occasion, 
given evidence of his optimism and refuted the charge 
of the cynic that an optimist is one who is married and 
says he is glad of it. In Senator Depew we have the 
personification of the old adage, 'Be old when you are 
young, that you may be young when you are old." 

The keen, bright shafts which thou dost fling 
At folly still are keen and bright ; 
To thy renown the centuries bring 
No shadows of a coming night. 

ADDRESS OF SENATOR DEPEW. 

There was long continued applause as Senator 
Depew's smiling face was seen rising above the sea of 
faces and it was some minutes before he could proceed. 
He said in part: 



"]\Ir. President, Ladies and Gentlemen — It is difficult 
for n:ie to realize that this is the fourteenth of these an- 
nual dinners which have been given to celebrate my 
birthday. More valuable than any material gain or 
political promotion is the compliment of several hundred 
gentlemen remembering for so many years the anni- 
versary which made possible for me the joy of living. 
I wish I could share with you all its pleasures relieved 
of all its pains. For the first time the occasion is graced 
and honored by the presence of ladies. Surely this gal- 
lant innovation is the suggestion of our genial and popu- 
lar President, Lieutenant Governor Woodruff, and in- 
spired by the happy event which is to occur within a few 
hours, where we unanimously wish for his bride and 
himself long life, health and happiness. 

"The rapidity of everything in our American exist- 
ence is the marked peculiarity of our national char- 
acter. There has enough been crowded into these four- 
teen years to make a hundred for any other nation. The 
most striking suggestion which comes at an hour like 
this is the quick creation and fading away of reputa- 
tions. As dear old Rip Van Winkle said, 'How soon we 
are forgot!' The first of these banquets was in the last 
year of the administration of President Harrison. We 
were entering upon a campaign, with the nominations in 
June and July, which for the first time since the Civil 
War was to transfer the government of the country from 
the Republican to the Democratic party. William llc- 
Kinley was scarcely thought of as a candidate for the 
convention and little known among the masses of the 
American people. Mark A. Hanna had no reputation 
whatever outside of the State of Ohio, and Theodore 
Roosevelt was a Civil Service Commissioner in Wash- 
ington. Today McKinley holds a place among the im- 
mortals' as one of the best loved of American Presidents, 
Hanna emerged from obscurity to make McKinley Presi- 
dent and to become the Warwick of American politics, 



8 

while Theodore Roosevelt has a dominating position 
which has not been held by any President in our genera- 
tion and a unique and original personality which com- 
mands for him more than any other ruler the attention of 
the world. 

"But when I think over the full round of fifty years 
of my activities in law, business and politics the saddest 
reminiscences are those of the reputations which fade 
away. Of the Revolutionary period, partisan politics 
give contemporaneous interest to Jefferson and Hamilton 
because of their antagonistic schools, but as Washington 
rises, they drop down. In the middle period a certain 
fascination about the triumvirate of Webster, Clay and 
Calhoun keeps their memories green, but the schoolboy 
and the college man of to-day know little of them. I 
have lived for six years in Washington at the house oc- 
cupied by Daniel Webster while he was Secretary of 
State and in the Senate. An English visitor to whom 
I mentioned this, said, 'Very interesting — the man who 
wrote that beastly dictionary whose spelling spoiled the 
language !' I heard a story, but do not vouch for its accu- 
racy, of a statesman in England, who said, 'We 
have nothing to compare with your Webster, who, 
as I learn, was your greatest statesman and orator, wrote 
a dictionary and was hung for killing a client.' Any 
schoolboy after the Civil War could have called off easily 
the names of three-score heroes on the one side and the 
other, but now, so far as the universal public is interested, 
they know only Lincoln, Grant and Lee. The obvious 
lesson is : Do not be a fool and work for posterity. Do 
your best in your day and generation and receive their 
rewards. If posterity remembers you, it is not your fault, 
and you have received your dividends before you died. 

"Six years ago this occasion was made a celebration 
of my election to the Senate ; tonight of my re-election. 
Between the former and the latter it seems but the ris- 
ing and the setting of the sun of a single day. It has 



been a joyous period, but passed like a dream. The war 
with Spain created for us new problems to solve and 
put to the supreme test our ability to assume great re- 
sponsibilities and perform high duties without material 
rewards. The splendid vindication of promise and per- 
formance in Cuba, the burden carried so successfully 
in Porto Rico and in the Philippines form a new and 
brilliant chapter in American history. From our first 
Presidency in 1789 to AIcKinley in 1899 the world had 
cared little for our internal politics and nothing about 
our foreign policy. But in these six short years the most 
interesting subject in every mart and center of manu- 
facture and trade has come to be 'The American inva- 
sion,' and the most acute question in every Cabinet, 'What 
will be the attitude of the United States in the ultimate 
settlement and disposition of countries, treaty ports and 
markets in the far East?' 

THE SENATE AS VIEWED BY A AIEAIBER. 

"I have studied the Senate during my membership, 
and with each year my respect and reverence for it have 
increased. As we grow in population and territo- 
ries, as our relations with foreign powers become more 
important, as our world trade adds to the cares of gov- 
ernment, as the Monroe Doctrine presents new phases 
and new possibilities, as the concentration of industries 
more and more absorbs the public mind and attention and 
as, growing out of these, is a constant peril of a furore of 
passion sweeping the country oflf its feet, the conserva- 
tism of the Senate becomes more and more the sheet 
anchor of our peace and safety. That there are no limi- 
tations to debate and no previous question is the fre- 
quent criticism of this body. It is exasperating to a 
degree that the majority cannot have its way the moment 
it feels the strength of its numbers, but I cannot recall 
a single good measure which has been lost by this ob- 
struction of the minority, but I do remember manv cases 



10 



where the power of the minority has given the country 
time to think and brought the majority to reason and 
sanity. The more powerful the nation and the more com- 
plicated its interests at home and abroad, the greater is 
the danger of haste. It is irritating, but nevertheless 
consoling, to find salvation in a flood of talk. 

When I was elected the question of the election of the 
United States Senators by the people was arousing univer- 
sal interest. It has in a measure died out. The people do 
not care about the abstract proposition that as the Senators 
are the Ambassadors of sovereign states they should 
therefore be elected by the Legislatures of those States, 
but they are deeply concerned in having a voice in their 
selection. At my period in life and under the circum- 
stances of my election I can, I hope, without a charge 
of egotism say a few plain words. The popular ap- 
preciation of an election by the people is a nomination 
by the State Conventions of the two parties. The peo- 
ple then are helpless except to vote for the nominees of 
the conventions. Those nominees may be, as Conven- 
tions go, the incidents of the trading of localities for dif- 
ferent places on the ticket and not the popular choice. 
I have three times seen a candidate for Governor, who 
was sure of a nomination three hours before the con- 
vention met because he was the choice of the people, lost 
in the shuffle, he did not know how, between that time 
and the calling of the roll, when his name was not men- 
tioned. The delegates to a State Convention are elected 
in many cases by caucuses controlled by a few indi- 
viduals or delegates. They have no oath of office, and 
tiieir action can never be called in question by a constit- 
uency. "The Legislators, on the other hand, have sworn 
duties to perform and ambitions for the future. Thev are 
judged by their acts. In the interval between the 6th 
of November and the ist of January, in my case, the 
newspapers and the people had two full months to dis- 
cuss whether the present incumbent should be retired 



II 

from tlie Senate or returned. If the matter had been sub- 
mitted to the state convention the probabiHties would 
have been against my receiving the nomination. If there 
had not been a popular approval of my course and a de- 
sire for my continuance in the Senate it could not have 
been manufactured. But with two months for the press 
to speak out, for the people to discuss the question and for 
them to organize in school districts, towns and cities, the 
popular will became evident and found its expression in 
the vote of the Legislature. It is possible to conceive of 
a case where the Legislature might even disregard that. 
Ihe primary is the only practical suggestion of an elec- 
tion of United States Senators by the people. It is ex- 
pensive and cumbersome, but it has been successfully 
tried in several states and proved entirely satisfact(i)ry. 
I am very happy in the thought that in the final analy- 
sis the issue in my election instead of being a contest 
with a friend was simply whether or not I should be con- 
tinued for another term. 

"I have searched for years for some book in which 
had been collated the oracles of Delphi and their effect 
upon the history of the ancient world, but have been 
unable to find it. It is known that the utterances of the 
god controlled the politics and foreign policies of the 
classic age for centuries. A most interesting vol- 
ume would be the ettect of little, apparently trifling 
things upon the fortunes of individuals, parties and peo- 
ples. A single remark of Benedetti, the French Ambassa- 
dor to Prussia, made to King William at the watering 
place at Ems, brought on the Prussian-French War, cre- 
ated modern Germany, despoiled France of Alsace and 
Lorraine and influenced the politics of the world. In a 
bill rendered by William L. Marcy, as judge, to the 
State Comptroller, when the law required an itemized 
account of expenditures, a charge of 50 cents for patch- 
ing his pants impaired the future fortunes of that states- 
man and of his party. General Winfield Scott, the Whig 



12 



candidate for President, had won the admiration of the 
country by his gallantry as a soldier, and his canvass 
was exceedingly promising until in giving an excuse for 
the delay in answering the communication of an impor- 
tant committee he claimed it was due to absorption in a 
'hasty plate of soup.' That 'hasty plate of soup' laughed 
him out of the canvass. No man ever came so near the 
Presidency and lost it as James G. Blaine. Had he car- 
ried the State of New York he would have been tri- 
umphantly elected, but the State went against him by 
only 1,037 majority. The famous alliteration of the 
three R's : Rum, Romanism and Rebellion, in the speech 
a few days before election, addressed to Mr. Blaine on 
behalf of the Protestant ministers by the Rev. Dr. Bur- 
chard, alienated tens of thousands of voters and not only 
ended the ambition of a lifetime, but changed the course 
of American politics. A single remark made at the Exec- 
utive Mansion in Albany when Conkling, Arthur and 
Cornell were in conference led to the creation of the 
organization which defeated the third term and nominated 
Garfield for President. 



A DINNER INCIDENT THAT CAUSED A 
REFORAI. 

"At the first of these dinners I took occasion in my 
speech, more in the spirit of an after dinner talk than 
serious accusation, to point out as sources of Brooklyn's 
pride instances of her acquiescence by her votes in notori- 
ous corruption. The Mayor, himself an honest man, 
took umbrage and left the table, and the pleasure of the 
feast was marred. Ordinarily such an event would have 
been forgotten with the day, but the pulpit of Brooklyn, 
which always speaks out, raised the question. 'Why did 
the Mayor leave the table?' He should have defended, 
said the ministers, the good reputation of his city by re- 



13 

futing these grave charges and not run away. 'Why did 
the Mayor leave the table?' thus heralded through the 
churches, was one of the causes of the reform uprising 
which swept this city and subsequently New York and 
then went all over the country. The conditions were ripe 
for revolt ; the fuse was close to the powder magazine, 
and 'Why did the Mayor leave the table ?' was the match. 
"The great difference between the United States and 
other countries is in the comparative ease with which our 
problems are solved. This is due to the universal educa- 
tion and general intelligence of our people and to the con- 
fidence reposed in the government of the day because pre- 
vious solutions have almost invariably turned out right. 
JNo matter how grave the question, it arouses interest, but 
not apprehension. The occasion may be fruitful in scare 
head lines, but there is general calm. Each year has fur- 
nished its doubts, and before we have again met they 
have been dispelled. Present problems are more interest- 
ing to us because we are nearer to them and they are new. 
The Presidency under Roosevelt has assumed closer rela- 
tions to the people. He has been called upon to use the 
prestige of his great office in critical crises where under 
the law and Constitution he has no power. The force of 
this advice will always depend upon the reputation of the 
President of the hour. There must be unquestioning con- 
fidence in his ability, wisdom, patriotism, courage and 
absolute unselfishness. The settlement of the coal strike 
was a conspicuous example of this reserve power in the 
office and the man. The same is true of his action upon 
trusts and railway legislation. From an agitator clothed 
with the power of the Presidency such policies as Roose- 
velt advocates would create dangerous disturbance, with 
far reaching and disastrous consequences. But sugges- 
tions from Roosevelt, with the unique position he holds, 
backed by the trust reposed in him as shown by the enor- 
mous majority which he has received, strengthen public 
confidence and enhance values. It is a phase of the Presi- 



14 

dency that its duties, responsibilities and power are more 
interesting than any other development in our official 
history, 

MONROE DOCTRINE A VITAL FORCE FOR A 
GENERATION. 

"The Monroe Doctrine has been a vital force for a 
generation, but its real scope, meaning and responsibility 
have been largely academic. The request of the San Do- 
minican government for us to intervene has compelled us 
to face the Monroe Doctrine under aspects never before 
presented. We cannot say to these Republics, 'You shall 
not trade with the people of foreign nations nor permit 
their citizens to engage with their capital in business 
within your borders,' nor can We say to foreign nations, 
'We will not permit, without a war, your exercise of the 
rights granted to you by international law, and about 
which there is no dispute, in the protection of your citi- 
zens and the collection of your debts.' Some of these Re- 
publics have felt safe in inviting the citizens and capital of 
other countries and then at the whim of a revolution re- 
pudiating all obligations. They have done this under the 
belief that the power of the United States behind the Mon- 
roe Doctrine would save them from the consequences of 
such acts. The question is now upon us, presented in its 
best form by the request of San Domingo to take posses- 
sion of her customs and adjust her debt or else to per- 
mit foreign governments to take her ports and do that 
work themselves. The latter course would defeat the 
vital principles of the Monroe Doctrine and leave foreign 
powers in practical possession of an island, with ports and 
harbors for rendezvous, on the line of our Isthmian Canal 
and commanding our island possessions and gulf coast. 
Our duty is difficult, but the duties and responsibilities of 
government to a great and free people are always difficult 
and they are dangerous unless courageously and wisely 
met. 



15 

THE STRENUOUS VS. THE SIMPLE LIFE- 
HARD WORK AN INSPIRATION TO 
ACHIEVEMENT. 

"We have the strenuous and the simple Ufe before us. 
The first has its attractions. I bought the second in the 
five cent edition and confess it is hard to read. When one 
has passed three score and ten the natural life has the 
same charm which appeals to youth. It is folly to strain 
or simper. Retire at sixty, cries one. Quit when you 
have enough to live on, says another. The Judiciary in 
our state and the Army and Navy have an age limit. It 
prevents some exhausted or played out officers from in- 
juring the service, but deprives the public of many of its 
ablest and best equipped men. Dr. Osier's chloroform 
should be not for age, but incompetence. I have known 
those whose fires were burned out at forty and those who 
did not fully mature until sixty, and the succeeding twen- 
ty-five were their best years. Napoleon had lost his grip 
at thirty-six and Byron his genius earlier. Nothing 
equals the sustaining power of work or the life giving in- 
spiration of achievement. Inanition and death are the 
sequels of idleness at any age. Prestige, whether from 
things done or inheritance, counts for much. Officers of 
distinction in business and financiers of vast wealth and 
experience defer to the judgment of a tried veteran and, 
curiously enough, pay a measure of the same respect to 
the green and undeveloped youth who is heir to the situa- 
tion. The septuagenarian who drops the sustaining 
force of power and the incense of deference advances 
rapidly through Shakespeare's seventh age to the grave. 
If he visits the office or counting room the clerks no 
longer see him, and the manager or partner, who was so 
cordial in the active days, says : 'Excuse me, old man ; so 
busy, you know. Come around Sunday to dinner if you 
have nothing better on hand.' He finds no place in the 
talk at the table. It is of the shop, with which he has 
lost touch and information. Dinner conversations once 



i6 

made memorable evenings, and every period in life merry 
and wise, or filled delightful volumes, but now bonds and 
stocks of steel or copper or rails or mines confine it within 
the exchanges. Once we had quick recognition, racy re- 
views and keen enjoyment of authors, new books, art and 
adventure at home and abroad, politics, the opera or the 
drama. I spoke of them the other evening to a charm- 
ing woman, who said : 'Oh, those things are old fash- 
ioned and a bore! Tell me about 'Smelters.' Are they 
going up?' After dinner the men discussed on V\-hich 
side to speculate in viev/ of Union Pacific's $100,000,000 
stock issue and its possible purchases. 

"With diplomats and statesmen intent upon the dis- 
cussion and outcome of grave international relations, and 
men of letters drawn to the Capital by its unequaled 
facilities and opportunities, Washington is almost the 
only place in the United States where mind can separate 
from matter and enjoy the lights and shadows of the 
higher life. The actors on the national stage know little 
and care less about the fluctuations of the stock market in 
New York or the hysterics of the pit in Chicago. They 
live and move in the bracing atmosphere of home and 
foreign policies and politics. A large majority of the 
leaders of thought, debate and action have passed the 
Osier chloroform period. Speaker Cannon in his seven- 
tieth year holds and guides the wild horses of the House 
with unequaled skill and firmness. It was an inspiration 
to hear Senator Hoar at seventy-seven brilliantly en- 
countering the ablest orators of the Senate, and Senator 
Piatt of Connecticut, whose death yesterday was an ir- 
reparable loss to the country, at the same age during the 
last session wielding commanding influence among his 
colleagues, while Senator Morgan at eighty held the floor 
for hours against the assaults of a host of adversaries 
with unimpaired vigor of mind and body. Senator Alli- 
son at seventy-six is head of the Committee on Appro- 
priations. With his knowledge and grasp of the financial 



17 

conditions of the country he is the advisor of other 
statesmen and with rarest wisdom and tact he adjusts ex- 
penditures to income in the appropriation bills. One of 
the greatest lawyers and genial wits of our country, Sen- 
ator Evarts, when near the close of his long career re- 
marked at his Christmas dinner, 'When we began you 
saw a turkey stuffed with sage ; now behold a sage stuffed 
with turkey !' Which meant that, though many years 
past the allotted time, he enjoyed life with the zest of the 
youngest. 

"Death is an accident. It may happen to the child or 
the centenarian. Work, temperance and fun are the 
sources of longevity. Our thoughts should not be of the 
grave, for we are a long time dead, but of the uplifting 
duties and pleasures of this glorious old world. A phil- 
osopher once said — I cannot quote him literally: 'We 
begin life naked and bare. It is full of trouble and care. 
We go God only knows where. If we are all right here, 
we will be all right there.' I am not a philosopher, but 
as the outcome and experience of an unusually busy life 
let us oflfer an amendment to his philosophy : 

We begin life naked and bare ; 
It has troubles, but more happiness rare. 
If we do our best, God will take care 
Both here and there. 



